Written By: David Benioff & D.B Weiss
Directed By: Michelle MacLaren
Synopsis: The wedding of Tyrion and Sansa arrives; Melisandre takes Gendry to Dragonstone, where he encounters Stannis; the Hound reveals his plans for Arya; Daenerys looks to recruit the Second Sons; Sam & Gilly fight for survival beyond the Wall.
The Verdict: White Walkers, weddings, and witchcraft. Never a good mix in real life, but in this week’s GAME OF THRONES, it makes for superb Telly.
SECOND SONS benefits greatly from more focus on fewer main characters, resulting in a nice fair balance in way of character screen time and plot development. Samwell’s scene especially benefits, his relationship with Gilly not only getting some great push here by the writers, but also resulting in a terrific action sequence that had this hardcore fan punching the air in fanboyish glee. Likewise, it’s nice to see Davos and Stannis back together again, their exchange in the dungeons a revealing and sweet moment that reminds us just how close these two comrades in arms really are, despite the falling out they had in the beginning of the season.
Its all about the wedding though this week, and boy what a wedding it was. Funny and tense (see below), and then going the opposite end of the spectrum with a sweet and sad exchange between Tyrion and Sansa as they prepare to consummate a relationship they never wanted, this week’s wedding was chock full of great little character moments, especially for Tyrion, Cersei, Sansa, Loras and Joffrey.
Well paced and incredibly entertaining, SECOND SONS finally gets the ball rolling again after several low-key episodes.
Best Bit: Did anyone not cheer when Tyrion threatened to cut Joffrey’s cock off? It’s a great, funny and nerve-wracking confrontation, and the aftermath is an equally tense and powerful moment, excellently played by Peter Dinklage, Jack Gleeson, and Charles Dance, and easily one of the finest moments for Tyrion this season.
Its Wossiname: Ramon Tikaram plays Prendahl. You’ve probably seen Prendahl in shows like THIS LIFE and PRIMEVAL, in which he gets eaten by a G-Rex (in PRIMEVAL that is, not in THIS LIFE).
Best Line(s):
Tyrion: “Drinking and lust, no man can match me in these things. I am the god of tits and wine. I shall build a shrine to myself at the next brothel I visit.”
Game of Thrones returns next Monday on Sky Atlantic, as does THN’s Game of Thrones Blog!
